Chapter Report

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Leading Initiative for Future Ecologists (LIFE) at University of Puerto Rico – Bayamon

Chapter Information

Advisor Information

Concepción Rodríguez, Professor (PhD in Biology)

Email: concepcion.rodriguez@upr.edu

Chapter Activities

A descriptive summary of each of the major Chapter activities (seminars/workshops, field trips, fundraisers, outreach/community service, etc.) during the past academic year. The activity, the timeframe, and the persons involved (Chapter members, campus, school students, community, etc.). People who were included and served, and how many.

During this past academic year, our chapter stayed focused on educating our community about environmental topics and concerns. We also focused in orienting students with an eye on the environment and how they can approach to their expected goals. We also organized activities where every person, regardless of their goals or academic or professional interests, could learn about taking care of our planet. As always, we encouraged them in become a green person somehow. One of these activities was the construction and maintenance of a home garden during last semester (January-May). As a group, we planted banana, camphor, oregano, lemongrass, cabbage, and more. The chapter also gave a presentation in a preschool and we took the students to our home garden and let them plant their own plants while after the conference. The members of LIFE also made a field trip to an estate in the mountains of Puerto Rico to grab some ideas for a future research assignment.
Our biggest activity of the year, which started in 2007, it is the famous BioBlitz. This is where the chapter invites students of all majors, Scientifics and the community in general to make a census of the species present in our campus for 24 hours in a row. All LIFE members get involve from the beginning of the academic year in different tasks such as promotions, search for donations, search for volunteering Scientifics, Logistic, food, and many more. During these 24 hours, we have mainly conferences and field trips around the campus. Our census includes mammals, birds, insects, microorganisms, plants, fungi, arthropods, gastropods, amphibians and reptiles. The conferences are focused on academic and professional development and include workshops and graduate schools advisory.
The chapter made several fundraisers activities such as candy cotton and chocolate lollipops made by us. We also sell t-shirts for the BioBlitz.

What best describes the activities of your chapter this past academic year?

Chapter Invigoration/Recruitment, Community Outreach, Environmental Stewardship, Career Development, Field Trips, Research, Professional Conferences and/or Meetings, Other

A summary of the Chapter’s ideas or plans for the next academic year.

For the next academic year, the chapter will start an intensive recycling campaign around the campus. We already have the containers and the committee that will be in charge of the project. As always we’ll start the organization for the BioBlitz. We will also make a flower garden in front of the Biology Building during this summer. In addition to this, LIFE will be volunteering in the SEEDS trip to Puerto Rico. Last, we are planning to propose a research project in an estate in Comerío, Puerto Rico.